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Dr Kaukab Siddique | Editor-in-Chief Jamada al-Awwal 24, 1430/ May 19, 2009, # 24

Spotlight from Imam Badi Ali:

If you have only 5 minutes to do a project, spend 4 minutes in thinking about it [study it, research it, analyze it]. Spend one minute to implement it.

Spotlight #2 from Imam Badi:

Many Muslims in America tell non-Muslims what they want to hear. This causes confusion and misguidance. Tell the truth about Islam.

The Colbert Report: Insulting Jesus, pbuh, supporting Homosexuality, Honoring Cat Stevens [Yusuf Islam]

May 14, 2009: What was Yusuf Islam thinking of?

Colbert ridiculed Jesus, pbuh, claimimg that Jesus, pbuh, was tempted by bikini clad women [and other such dirty comments.]
Then Colbert started defending homosexuality and making fun of its critics.
Then he introduced Yusuf Islam and gave him the floor to play and sing from his "roadsinger" album.
We ask Cat Stevens: Was it worthwhile to make money off his introduction of his album a few minutes after Jesus, pbuh, had been insulted.
Did Yusuf think Muslims were not watching? Surely Allah Knows all that we do.

Latest News from Somalia

On May 17, Shabab al-Islam captured the town of Jowhar, north of Mogadishu. The defenders fled.
On May 18, Hizbul Islam, a similar group, captured Mahaday, a town 23 km north of Jowhar. The defenders left in a hurry.
Fighting is raging in Mogadishu as the pro-western government is holding on with the help of foreign troops.
The fighting began when Shabab objected to the presence of non-Muslim armed forces on Muslim land. The government threatened to call on America for help. That set it off.
[For latest photo of Islamic resistance in Somalia, please scroll all the way down .]

Obama Day 118
Jamaat al-Muslimeen Press release:

Obama-Natanyahu Meeting is an an Outrage: It Tears at the Heart of Palestine.

May 18: President Obama met Natanyahoo. Netanyahoo is a known Israeli terrorist. His crimes against the Palestinian, Lebanese, Arab and African people are too many to list here. Only in January 2009, the Israeli genocide in Gaza was hailed by Netanyahoo. The widows and orphans of Palestine know him as a criminal.
President Obama asked him to stop settlements. When? What about the ones already set up?

President Obama is suggesting to Netanyahoo that he think of a Palestinian state along with Israel. Have the Arab people or the Muslim world given Obama the right to think on their behalf that Israel should continue to get total U.S. support while it should graciously allow a puppet Palestinian puppet state to come into being?

Mr. Obama: Don't forget that Islam is the key to peace. Israeli military power is not the way to peace. Muslims will not accept an Israel-based puppet Palestinian entity.

Obama is taking the line that Israel will be doing everyone a favor by accepting at least the idea of a Palestinian state.

Please Mr. Obama, stop thinking of the Muslims as chumps and fools.

Latest War News from Swat, Pakistan: Taliban putting up stiff resistance, showing ability to regroup, avoid air attacks
from New Trend's Pakistan monitors

May 17-18, 2009: Heavily armed columns of Pakistani forces, with strong air support, have moved into the outskirts of towns held by the Taliban in Swat. Heavy fighting is reported from the towns of Matta, Kanju and the approaches to Mingora. The Pakistani forces are advancing up the roads leading to the towns. Most of the countryside and major areas of the towns remain in Islamic hands. Pak heavy artillery, helicopter gunships and jet fighters have been attacking the countryside in the hopes of hitting the Taliban but with little success.

New Trend analysts say that the Pak army claims of having killed 775 [now 1,000] "militants" turned out to be grossly exaggerated. Our analysis of the information coming out shows that the military assault has killed about 500 civilians, including women and children, and around 50 Taliban. In the few contacts the military has had with Taliban, the Paks have lost 48 of their elite forces killed and 78 wounded.

Pak fear propaganda calling for "evacuation" combined with the use of long range artillery and air strikes, including strafing by jet fighters, terrified the population and 1.7 million people became refugees [euphemestically called "internally displaced persons or IDPs by the military]. However another 200,000 people refused to leave and are helping the small Taliban defense forces which have not withdrawn from fixed positions.

Some of the civilian casualties caused by General Kayani's long range artillery are horrific, including women cut in two, children blown up and numerous people with serious wounds and no medical facilities.

Indications from the situation on the ground are that the U.S. funded and U.S. backed army is behaving like a mercenary force. Areas where the army takes over, curfew is imposed with great severity to terrorize the people.

The Taliban leaders, including the legendary Islamic hero of Swat, Maulvi Fazlullah, evaded capture in spite of a sophisticated heliborne landing of Pak troops behind his lines. His FM radio is still working and on May 18 he gave a brief, terse interview to BBC in which he said the military offensive was "a gift" from {President] Zardari to the USA.

Also on May 18, the famous Taliban spokesman in Swat, Muslim Khan spoke to the media from an undisclosed location and promised tough resistance in the Way of Allah.

African American intellectual and Independent Broadcaster notices the thoughtless continuation of Bush's policies
Afghanistan/Pakistan Where Empires Go to Die
"America can not afford this folly."

By Dr. Wilmer J. Leon III [The writer lives in Maryland.]

Under the pretext of responding to the September 11, 2001 attacks in America, the United and States and Great Britain invaded Afghanistan on October 7, 2001 under the banner of operation Enduring Freedom. President Bush 41' told the American people that the US strikes were, "...designed to disrupt the use of Afghanistan as a terrorist base of operations, and to attack the military capability of the Taliban regime...we will make it more difficult for the terror network to train new recruits and coordinate their evil plans. Initially, the terrorists may burrow deeper into caves and other entrenched hiding places...At the same time, the oppressed people of Afghanistan will know the generosity of America and our allies. As we strike military targets, we will also drop food, medicine and supplies to the starving and suffering men and women and children of Afghanistan... "

During the 2008 presidential campaign, candidate Obama promised to immediately withdraw troops from Iraq in order to bolster the forces in Afghanistan in order to defeat the Taliban and Al Qaeda. "It's time to refocus our attention on the war we have to win in Afghanistan." I believe that this tactic was taken by the Obama team in order to placate the anti-Iraq contingent in the American electorate while not leaving himself vulnerable to the "soft on defense" hawkish critics on the other side. As a campaign tactic this approach proved to be successful. In reality, this may prove to be one of the greatest miscalculations President Obama could make.

After the historic election of President Obama, many historians and others placed this event in the context of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Some mistakenly saw this election as the fulfillment of "The Dream"; others mistakenly compared candidate Obama's "race neutral" approach and stellar oratory with Dr. King's.

Today, critics are asking the question "is the Obama administrations approach to the problems in Afghanistan/Pakistan going to be their Vietnam?" As America faces its most difficult economic challenges in recent history, compare President Obama's Afghanistan/Pakistan with President Johnson's Vietnam. Are the same mistakes that were based on arrogance, hubris, and a misplaced sense of empire being made again? Here's what the Rev. Dr. King had to say about US involvement in Vietnam in his speech Beyond Vietnam: A Time to Break Silence,

"There is at the outset a very obvious and almost facile connection between the war in Vietnam and the struggle I, and others, have been waging in America. A few years ago there was a shining moment in that struggle. It seemed as if there was a real promise of hope for the poor -- both black and white -- through the poverty program. There were experiments, hopes, new beginnings. Then came the buildup in Vietnam and I watched the program broken and eviscerated as if it were some idle political plaything of a society gone mad on war, and I knew that America would never invest the necessary funds or energies in rehabilitation of its poor so long as adventures like Vietnam continued to draw men and skills and money like some demonic destructive suction tube. So I was increasingly compelled to see the war as an enemy of the poor and to attack it as such."

Today, President Obama is planning to send an additional 4,000 troops and other support personnel into Afghanistan. Like his predecessor, President Obama says, "If the Afghanistan government falls to the Taliban or allows al-Qaida to go unchallenged, that country will again be a base for terrorists." The additional 4,000 troops will bring the total US force up to 30,000 by the end of 2009.

President Obama is also ratcheting up the rhetoric and activity in Pakistan. In his announcement on March 27th, President Obama referred to the border region of Afghanistan/Pakistan as,

"the most dangerous place in the world... This is not simply an American problem - far from it. It is, instead, an international security challenge of the highest order. Terrorist attacks in London and Bali were tied to al-Qaida and its allies in Pakistan, as were attacks in North Africa and the Middle East, in Islamabad and Kabul. If there is a major attack on an Asian, European, or African city, it, too, is likely to have ties to al-Qaida's leadership in Pakistan. The safety of people around the world is at stake.".

President Obama and his advisors should learn from history, some ancient some modern, and not repeat it. This is the region of the world that has never been defeated militarily. It is where empires go to die. The Greeks, Indians, Persians, Mongolians, British, and Russians have tried to hold Afghanistan but never succeeded.

According to historians, Alexander the Great in 330 B.C. lost more men and more animals crossing the Hindu Kush than all his subsequent campaigns in central Asia. In 1839 the British invaded Afghanistan; in 1841 after an Afghan revolt, 4,500 British troops withdrew. According to a description published in the North American Review in 1842,

"On the 6th of January, 1842, the Caboul forces commenced their retreat through the dismal pass, destined to be their grave. On the third day they were attacked by the mountaineers from all points, and a fearful slaughter ensued..."

In most recent history, the Russians invaded Afghanistan. The initial deployment of the Soviet 40th Army began in Afghanistan on August 7, 1978. After nine years of fighting a US, Saudi Arabia, and Pakistani backed mujahideen resistance, the Soviet troop withdrawal began on May 15, 1988 and ended on February 15, 1989.

Since 2001, in spite of President Bush and now President Obama's noble speeches and military tactics, the US and its allies have not "disrupt(ed) the use of Afghanistan as a terrorist base of operations". The US has not been able to successfully "attack the military capability of the Taliban regime".

What the US has done is lost 1147 coalition forces; US Air Force data shows that Munitions dropped in Afghanistan have risen 1,100 percent, from 2004 to 2007 tonnage figures jumped from 163 tons to 1,956 tons. According to the United Nations, bombs have killed over 2000 Afghan civilians in 2008, up 40% from 2007. The Associated Press reports the direct correlation between the rise in Afghan civilian deaths and anti-American sentiment.

In terms of dollars, according to recently released pentagon reports, the price tag for running the war in Afghanistan/Pakistan will outstrip the cost of the conflict in Iraq next year. America can not afford this folly. As the Rev. Dr. King would say, then came the buildup in Afghanistan/Pakistan and I watched the program broken and eviscerated as if it were some idle political plaything of a society gone mad on war...

The US and its allies could "disrupt the use of Afghanistan as a terrorist base of operations, and attack the military capability of the Taliban regime..." if more of this effort and money were spent on winning the hearts and minds of the Afghan and Pakistani people through real humanitarian assistance such as water, food, medicine, blankets, and building supplies.

The problem with this solution is that those who fuel and promote the military industrial complex in America do not profit from the sale of humanitarian assistance. They profit from war. This is why, if America is not smart, Afghanistan/Pakistan will once again be where empires go to die.

Dr. Wilmer Leon is the Producer/ Host of the nationally broadcast call-in talk radio program "On With Leon," and a Lecturer in the Department of Political Science at Howard University in Washington, D.C. Go to www.wilmerleon.com or email: wjl3us@yahoo.com .
© 2009 InfoWave Communications, LLC.

Facts about the Taliban which most People Don't Know
from New Trend's Research Support

Obama Day 116
U.S. Missile Attack in Pakistan Destroys Islamic School, kills 29 Muslims

May 16, 2009: Two missiles from a U.S. drone destroyed an Islamic school [medressa] and the home of Hikmat Roshan, a local Islamic activist, in the village of Khaisore, in the Mirali area of North Waziristan. At last reports, the death toll had risen to 29. The Waziri tribes have joined the Mehsud tribes in rallying to Shaykh Usama and are being targeted by the U.S. [Some say the drome attacks on the Mehsuds led the Waziri to join them in gesture of Islamic solidarity.]

The same day in North Waziristan, Pakistani helicopter gunships rocketed the homes of Islamic "militants" in a village 10 km east of Miran Shah. Losses were not reported. Earlier on May 14 a Pak army convoy was ambushed by the Waziris in this area: Three Pak troops were killed and 4 wounded. [The area borders Afghanistan.]

Taliban Raids in Afghanistan after U.S. Air Force killed 150 civilians including 95 Children.

The U.S. has accepted at least in part that civilians were killed in its air strikes in Farah province. Local reports including Karzai supporters now admit that the 150 civilians killed in the U.S. air attacks included 95 children. [NPR put up an elaborate defense of the civilian deaths in its May 18 broadcast. It quoted one Karzai saying that Pakistanis were among the Taliban there: it seems a propaganda gambit as Farah is nowhere near Pakistan.]

Taliban are continuing classic guerrilla warfare except in the rare cases where young martyrdom operators carry out totally unexpected attacks. One such was last week in Khost when 6 martyrdom operators together entered the central government buildings in the city and blew themselves up killing scores of Karzai's men and wounding at least 50. Karzai admitted 20 killed. The next day a martyr tried to hit the U.S. military base near Khost but was killed before he could hit U.S. troops. Six people working for the U.S. were killed. Observers are not surprised that U.S. troops are terrified of young Taliban.

On May 15, two U.S. troops were killed in a conventional attack in the same area by Taliban gunmen.

On May 14 A British elite trooper was killed in a Taliban attack in the Lashkargah area of Helmand province. A British Harris jet crashed at Kandahar airport. The pilot bailed out but was injured.

On May 13 In the south Ghazni area, a Karzai trooper was killed and 6 wounded.

In Maidan Wardak area, a Karzai officer was killed while fighting Taliban.
Earlier on May 7, four elite British troops were killed in combat with the Taliban., two in Gereshek [Helmand], one in Sangin , and one in Musa Qala [Helmand].

Two NATO soldiers killed along with 3 U.S. troops and 3 Karzais in a battle with Taliban on the Pakistan border were Latvians.

Letter: CNN Video was Fake. Taliban did not give interview to CNN

Assalamu alykum warahmatullahi wabarakatuh,
According to close sources of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan and the official spokesman Zabihulla Mujahid, this interveiw with CNN is fake.
Zabihuhalla Mujahid has said that he didn't meet any journalist from CNN.
Another plot of the enemies exposed.
Here is the video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sCptFrPZZG0

Pakistan Taliban


Jamaate Islami, a peaceful movement for Islamic change, held rallies in major Pakistani cities condemning the army action in Swat. This one [photo above] was in Karachi and was addressed by Karachi Jamaat leader Hussain Mahnati [inset]. The banners say [in Urdu] Stop military operation in Swat & start talks. [Left]. The one on the right says: Friendship with America brings nothing but destruction.


May 16. Syed Munawar Hasan, Ameer of Jamaate Islami Pakistan [center] and Sirajul Haq, Jamaat ameer in Frontier province [left] address refugees in Buner district, south of Swat. Hasan called for the withdrawal of the army from Swat and early peace talks. He condemned President Zardari's irrespnsible overseas trip to USA, UK, while tragedy unfolded in Swat. Jamaate Islami is leading the relief effort to help the 1.7 million people forced to leave their homes in Swat and Buner by General Kayani's offensive with heavy artillery, helicopter gunships and jet fighters.

The Pope's Visit to Occupied Palestined and Support of Israel destroyed his Credibility

by Ibrahim Ebeid [New York City]

I was raised up in the Roman Catholic faith and was taught that "His Holiness" is infallible; he makes no mistakes. As a child I believed it but when I grew up and started to think on my own I came to the conclusion that no one is infallible, all human beings make mistakes and err and because the Pope also is human, he errs, like the rest of us.
On 12 September 2006, Pope Benedict XVI at the University of Regensburg in Germany, where he previously served as professor of theology, delivered a lecture entitled "Faith, Reason and the University - Memories and Reflections." The lecture received much condemnation and praise from political and religious authorities. Many Islamic politicians and religious leaders registered their protest against what they said was an insulting mischaracterization of Islam, contained in the quotation by the pope of the following passage:
Show me just what Muhammad brought that was new and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached.
Myriad Christian Arabs, including those who were brought up in the Catholic faith, felt offended and shocked by his remarks. His offence to our Muslim brethren was in violation of the teachings of the one that he claims to represent. Jesus Christ taught his followers to love each other and not to preach hate or trespass against the others and "His Holiness" did the opposite.
In his offensive remarks, he renewed the mantra of the crusaders and he fell in the same line of the Christian Right and Christian Zionists. He opened the wounds that the Crusaders inflicted upon us.
Muhammad, the Honorable Prophet of Islam, means a lot to us Christian Arabs. He was the leader who excelled in creating the modern Arab State of the time that we are hoping to restore, The Arab Prophet taught us love and humanity and Islam means PEACE.
Your "Holiness", the Prophet of Islam came with something new and genuine, the followers of Islam built the foundation of modern science, Mathematics and preserved Greek philosophy. They are the builders of Modern Civilization. They gave the West the numbers, that you call Arabic numerals that replaced the inferior Roman numbers. The Christian Arabs took part of building the Arab Islamic civilization and they are an indivisible part of the Nation of Muhammad, the Arab Nation. Prophet Muhammad is our leader and always will be our guiding light.
The pilgrimage of "His Holiness" to the Holly Land, occupied Palestine, on the month of May is a painful reminder for us because in this month the illegal state of the Zionist entity was created in our land and the Palestinian society was destroyed. I am one of those who were born in Palestine before the creation of the Zionist entity. I have seen the tragedy of Palestine unfolding, a bitter memory that I never forget. Like millions of Palestinians, I cannot return to my house in Jaffa, because racist colonialist settlers are living there, and you are visiting this illegal entity that is causing our misery and mass murdering our people? This act is not infallible, it is unholy.
We wish that "His Holiness" would apologize for his offense to our great Prophet and Leader Muhammad. We wish that instead of visiting "Israel" he would visit the refugee camps in the "West Bank" and Gaza to see the largest concentration Camps in the world, to observe the miserable conditions of the Palestinians in this area and to witness with his own eyes the destruction that the Zionists have done with the support and help of the United States.
We wish that he would declare that the Palestinians have the right to return to their homes and establish their state in their historic land that they were forcefully evicted from.
We hope that he realizes that his followers, the Roman Catholics of Palestine, who live out of Jerusalem, will not be able to participate in the mass that he intends to celebrate in the Holy Sepulcher because Jerusalem and the Sepulcher are under occupation.
We hope that he will realize that Bethlehem is surrounded by a wall 29 feet high and all the villages and towns in the West Bank are completely isolated with high fences or concrete walls. Most of our villages and towns are walled in and our people are living in these open jails, they are blockaded, they are starving, thirsty and sick, no one to consult them.
"Your Holiness," we wish that your visit to "Israel" occupied Palestine, would not take place; it is a bitter reminder for us for a bitter tragedy that stripped us from our livelihood and from our Homeland, especially when it coincides in the month of May.
http://www.al-moharer.net/mohhtm/i_ebeid279.htm

INDIA & Bangladesh
New Delhi Trying to Turn Bangladesh into a Desert: Petition to Oppose Move

From: Fuad Mahmood. Subject: [Qur'an Mission] Sign Petition Against Construction of TipaiMukh Dam

Dear Fellow Countrymen:
I would like to draw your generous attention and take couple of minutes from your precious time for the great sake of Bangladesh. I've read, signed and now submit for your kind signature in favor the global drive of a Petition to be submitted to the Government of India through His Excellency the Prime Minister Dr. ManMohon Singh.

The Petition earnestly calls for an effective cancellation by our neighboring country India of its declared construction of a Dam on TipaiMukh. As you know, TipaiMukh Dam may appear as yet another dangerous Farakka to turn our evergreen & ever fertile motherland a desert, by constantly causing serious drought during summer and flood during rainy season round the year which is a great threat to life, ecology and overall existence of Delta of ours on the surface of the Earth.

According to the international law of rivers and waters, waters of cross-border rivers are "res communis" or common property of human race which should be equitably shared by all riparian countries and not arbitrarily used by a mighty country to the detriment of a weak nation.

Certainly the brave nation of ours is critically facing an absence of a lion-like leader such as Mawlana Bhashani. But we should not betray his luminous contributions to our glorious past that has paved our current existence and future hope. If we cannot become another Mawlana Bhashani, at least each of us can revive his patriotic spirit in us for the sake of a free, prosperous and peaceful Bangladesh.

Please follow the link and sign the petition to save Bangladesh: http://www.petition online.com/ACTIPdoa/petition.html

You are kindly requested to circulate this to as many people as you can.
Best regards.

An Appeal from Mark Weber: A Scholarly, Rational and Factual Critic of Israel, American Jewry and the "Holocaust" Myth.
New Trend urges readers to respond. Few U.S. Muslim efforts can compare with the damage Weber is doing to Israeli control of USA.

Recent Broadcasts and Upcoming Meetings : David Irving will Speak at Program with Weber

Our Commitment in the Struggle for Truth and Freedom

Dear Friend,

No event of the past few months more strikingly points up the Jewish-Zionist grip on our political and cultural life than the recent conference of the "American Israel Public Affairs Committee" (AIPAC). At this large gathering in Washington, DC, leading politicians of both major parties discarded our nation's principles and our national interests in their pandering to the powerful group.

To justify continued "blank check" US support for the Zionist state and its outrageous policies, these compliant politicians mouthed simplistic lies and half-truths about the history of the Israel-Palestine conflict and World War II.

Exposing such historical falsehood is a central focus of our work. Month after month, year after year, we inform and educate the public -- countering "big lie" myths about the Iraq war, the Israel-Palestine conflict, World War II, "the Holocaust," and much more.

The IHR not only battles historical falsehood, we're unique in forthrightly identifying the forces behind the systematic propagandizing that makes possible ruinous wars, and US support for Zionist war and oppression.

In this vitally important struggle, no comparable institution matches the IHR's track record of achievement and resolve. No similar group -- certainly none with a comparably modest budget and staff -- comes close to rivaling the IHR's level of outreach and distribution.

'Worldwatch' Broadcasts

As part of our continuing effort to reach "new" people -- far beyond a small, self-absorbed circle -- we've produced a series of on-line broadcasts that provide substantive, thoughtful perspective on current affairs and topical historical issues.

We're gratified by the very positive response to these "Worldwatch" broadcasts, which can easily be heard and downloaded from the IHR website's "Audio Archive" page

-- In one broadcast, titled "An Unknown Holocaust," I told about the misery and death imposed by the victors on defeated Germany after the end of World War II. The Soviet Union and the other Allied powers, I explained, brought a reign of destruction, looting, starvation, rape, "ethnic cleansing," and mass killing. More than 14 million Germans were expelled or forced to flee from eastern and central Europe. Some three million Germans died needlessly -- about two million civilians, mostly women, children and elderly, and one million prisoners of war. I also highlighted the Allied double standard in putting German leaders to death for policies that the Allies themselves were carrying out, sometimes on a far greater scale.

-- In another broadcast, entitled "The Weight of Tradition," I showed that Israel's often brutal and inhumane treatment of non-Jews, and the policies of the organized Jewish community, reflect a centuries-old mindset that has roots in the Hebrew scriptures. Judaism is not just "another religion," I explained. Its character and core values are markedly unlike those of Christianity and the other great world religions. Jews are encouraged to regard themselves as separate from the rest of humanity, and as members of a community with interests distinct from those of everyone else.

Upcoming Meetings

-- On Thursday, July 2, I'll be addressing a meeting in Vancouver, British Columbia. With me will be Paul Fromm, director of the Canadian Association for Free Expression, which is organizing the event.

-- On Saturday, July 25, British historian David Irving and I will address an IHR meeting in Orange County, southern California.

During this time of economic crisis, war and anxiety about the future, and with Israel and its supporters pressing for a new war in the Middle East, the need for a strong and effective IHR has never been greater.

We need your generous support especially now, to move our offices to a less costly neighborhood. Moving is expensive. But this overdue move will save money in the long run, and make our operations more cost-effective.

Please help!

To make a tax-deductible donation on-line, click here.

Faithfully yours,

Mark Weber
Director, Institute for Historical Review

Contact Information
email: news@ihr.org
phone: 949-631-1490
web: http://www.ihr.org

Montreal Perspectives
by Jalaluddin S. Hussain
Who is behind the push for breaking of the Swat Peace Agreement?

Montreal daily, "The Gazette" of May 6, 2009, headlined, "Pakistan army poised for push into Swat valley" This aggressive step, on the part of the Pakistani generals, in collusion with the Pentagon, will have dangerous and far-reaching consequences.

The whole world knows that when it was the matter of driving out the Soviets from Afghanistan, these very Taliban soldiers and al-Qaida operatives, were praised as the "fighters of Islam",but now they are called insurgents. This self-serving policy will just not work! Again, we cannot mix up the Afghan fighters, resisting NATO forces in Afghanistan, with the truly Islamically-inclined forces, trying to implement Shariah, in Swat.

Outside interference must be resisted

The provincial government in NWFP signed a Peace Agreement with the leaders of the resistance movement in Swat, which was duly approved by the National Assembly of Pakistan and signed by the President of Pakistan. Breaking this Agreement, at the instance of Pentagon, is treasonable, to say the least. The constant and relentless U.S. drone attacks, on the other hand, are killing the civilian population of the Northern Areas of Pakistan, in great numbers. Refugees from the Swat and Northern Areas are taking shelter in big cities like Peshawar, Islamabad, Lahore and Karachi, As a result, tensions are building up between the refugee and the settled communities. If the intention is to create complete chaos in that nuclear-armed country of 170 million people, and nip in the bud the fragile democracy in Pakistan, then surely the outside powers have won. The civil society of Pakistan and those who want democracy to flourish in that country, must take stock of the situation and resist this nefarious outside interference.

Allow Abdelrazik to return home

Abousfian Abdelrazik, 47, a Canadian citizen, who is presently living in the Canadian Embassy of Khartoum, Sudan, must be allowed to join his family in Canada. He has been trying to return home after having been in exile in Sudan for the last more than six years! The latest excuse of the Canadian government is that Abousfian's name is on the UN No-Fly List. He has, however, been cleared of any terrorist activities, by both the the Canadian security agencies - the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP). Now that 220 people across Canada have even contributed money to purchase his air ticket, from Khartoum to Montreal, the government of Canada must not only allow Abousfian Abdelrazik to return home and join his family, but also request the UN authorities to expunge his name from their No-Fly List.

May 15th. every year is marked as the "Palestine Day". It is sad and shocking that even this May 15th., after more than 60 years of continuous fighting and sacrifices, the Palestinian people will not be able to see an independent and sovereign Palestine. Who is to blame for this: the Zionists, the major powers, the rest of the international community, or all together?


Hizbul Islam youths in Mogadishu, May 10, 2009


2009-05-19 Tue 22:14:26 cdt
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